Edison data center company attracts $90M investment from venture group

October 10, 2012 at 1:45 PM

After spending just a few months seeking out potential investors to accelerate its growth plan, data center technology provider IO today announced it has raised $90 million in equity from a technology-focused venture capital group led by Chicago-based New World Ventures.

According to Jonathan Mauck, IO chief financial officer, the company hosts modular data centers to deliver its technology to clients who don’t want to maintain and secure the infrastructure on their own, though he said IO also designs and distributes physical modules to customers who prefer the traditional product.

Chris Girgenti, managing partner of New World Ventures and IO’s newest board member, said in a statement the firm made a $50 million investment in IO — its largest single transaction to date — because the company’s technology takes less time and money to build than other companies’ more sizable data centers, and “we knew it would revolutionize the industry. IO is set to make some big waves.”

Mauck said the investment will help IO open new data center hosting sites in Singapore and the United Kingdom by 2014, as well as expand its global sales force, research and development arms, and existing infrastructure in Phoenix and Edison.

IO’s 831,000-square-foot facility in Edison currently holds about 50 modular data centers for East Coast clients to remotely access, but Mauck said the site has enough space to house 600 modules total.

Though Mauck said reaching full capacity would take “hundreds of millions of dollars of investment,” he said IO will leverage the $90 million in equity with profits from off-site data center sales to make that vision a reality.

“I think New World Ventures sees a long-term shift in the way computing is happening, and it’s looking at our disruptive story as transforming the market,” Mauck said. “Even with this deal, we’re getting a lot of strong interest from different tech investors. I think there’s always an opportunity to raise capital if you’re an innovative, high-growth company.”